This is the June2004 Middle Kingdom Letter
of Acceptances and Returns for Escutcheons April 2004
Letter of Intent.

Unless otherwise noted, all clients will
accept changes. Comments in braces {} were removed from the
Letter of Intent sent to Laurel and the College of Arms. Names,
devices, or badges in braces have been returned or pended.
Commentary, rulings, etc. by Rouge Scarpe are placed in small cap
print. Thanks to Aryanhwy merch Catmael, Ălfreda Št
Ăthelwealda & Mikhail of Lubelska, Canute, Roberd, Malcolm,
the SW Ohio Commenting Consortium, Master John ap Wynne, and
Master Talan Gwynek.

Device was returned by Laurel Jan. '02 --
Per fess rayonny and per pale Or and gules, in bend two ravens
displayed sable

(Esct. Note: As this is over the year
grace period for appeals, the client has sent a check with the
submission.)

Ary
- Her previous device was returned for conflict. This is a
complete redesign. I found no conflicts with this new
design. While a spiderweb is a complex charge, when it is
the only charge on the field and I feel that it is not too
complex to counter- change, as identifiability is
preserved. However, this precedent should be noted:

"[Gyronny
purpure and argent, a spider web counterchanged] ... returned ...
for lack of identifiability due to excessive counterchanging of a
thin line charge. [Lodowick of Grays Inn, 08/99,
R-├thelmearc]"

I
think that versus a gyronny field, as in the precedent, a
quarterly field, as in this submission, is sufficiently simpler
that this can be sent forward for Wreath to make the decision.

Malcolm - Well, this is -
unusual. However, I don't believe thin line charges can be
counterchanged, can they? A pity if that is so, because
it's rather striking. Normally this kind of armory jangles
my nerves. In the color version, the "gules"
seems more orange, too.

Roberd - I am of the opinion that the
device does not run afoul of the RfS VIII.3 prohibition on
excessive counterchanging. I found no conflicts.

Ohio Consortium (hereafter Ohio) - No
conflicts found. The consensus was that while a spiderweb was a
relatively complex charge, in this case the contrast in the
emblazon was adequate.

Mikhail & AElfreda (hereafter
M&A) - The spiderweb should be blazoned as
"throughout"

i added throughout to the blazon and this
device will be passed on to laurel

Device returned by Laurel Jan '03 -- Per
fess wavy argent and sable a decrescent and an increscent azure

Ary
- Please give the reasons for previous returns on the LoI.
Her previous arms, "Per fess wavy argent and sable, in chief
a decrescent and an increscent azure," were returned with
this reason:

"The
emblazon blurs the distinction between a chief and a per fess
line of division. If this is a charged chief, the line marking
the bottom of the chief needs to be higher, and in particular,
the bottom of the wavy line should not extend as far down as the
fess point of the shield. If this is a per fess division, the
wavy line should extend equally over and under the fess line of
the shield. As this cannot be accurately blazoned, it must be
returned per RfS VII.7."

This
resubmission has barely lowered the line of division. I do not
know if this minute change is sufficient to clear the previous
problems.

Talan
- The line of division could stand to have slightly larger waves,
dropping a little lower in the troughs, but that's a matter of
aesthetics, not necessity: this is clearly a per fess division
and not a chief. Note that the line of division is centered
at exactly the same height on the shield as the per fess line in
the quarterly division of Brangwayn's submission (Nr. 1 on this
ILoI), which looks just fine.

Malcolm
- The way this is drawn, it looks like a fat chief. I've
seen bad artwork get bounced from Laurel before, despite correct
blazon and no other problems. That's my only concern with
this.

Roberd
- I found no conflicts. I will say, however, that when I saw the
emblazon in color, I was struck by the resemblance of the upper
half of the device to computer-controlled adversaries in
"Pac Man". Which is more indicative, I think, of a
misspent youth on my part than on any shortcoming in the device.

Ohio
- Several comments to Pac-man came up, though not considered any
reason to fail device. . The issue of the fess line
seems to be fixed, though could still have been drawn more
clearly. Appears free of conflict.

It's
an article based on names found in the Merioneth Lay Subsidy Roll
of 1292-3, a tax roll written by people familiar with English and
Latin but not necessarily Welsh and who therefore generally did
not use 'classical' Welsh spellings. The people whose names
were recorded, however, were Welsh, since that area of
northwestern Wales had as yet seen little immigration from
England, so the names are a good indication of late 13th century
Welsh naming practice in that region.

The
article indicates that of the 53 masculine names occurring at
least five times in the data, Cynwrig and Llywelyn
ranked 10th and 19th in popularity respectively. These are the
modern standard spellings; in the document the names actually
appear as Kenuric and Kenneric, and as Lewelin
and Lewelyn.

The
spelling Cynwrig ap Llywelyn is modern, but the underlying
name is certainly fine ca. 1300. According to Gabriel
report Nr. 2260 (Gwenlliana), Cynwrig would likely have
been spelled Kynwric in Welsh records at that time. (The
name seems to have gone out of use during the 15th c., so the
modern spelling is less appropriate than usual.) The
spelling Llywelyn is found in Jesus College MS. 20, dated
by Bartrum to the latter part of the 14th c. but based on earlier
sources, so Kynwric ap Llywelyn is probably a better form.

Also
according to the Client, "Gerald of Wales a Cynwrig
and quite a few Llwelyn(s) in his book about his travels
through Wales."

It's
not important, and I'd omit the whole business from the LoI, but
for the record a quick check of the translation on my shelf shows
that he did indeed meet a Cynwrig ap Rhys in his travels, and he
mentions at least one Llywelyn (names given here in modern Welsh
form, not those of my 19th c. English translation).

Ohio
 Good solid name.

John
 Cynwrig: see Gruffudd (p 28); Morgan & Morgan (pp.
79-80); Norman (p 192) lists it as common for the period between
1283-1536; Walker (p. 164) lists Cynwrig ap Llywarch;
and (p. 98) lists Cynwrig ap Rhys; also spelled
Cynric by various sources. Used both as a first
name and a surname.

Llywelyn:
see Gruffudd (p. 65); Morgan & Morgan (pp. 147-151); Rowlands
(pp. 122-124); Norman (p. 185) lists it as common between
1200-1283; Morby (p. 74) lists it as the name of two or three
Welsh princes. Used both as a first name and a surname.

Client is requesting that her former Device:
Ermine, three fir trees couped within a bordure vert.
which was reg.'d Dec '88.be released.

Ary - What lovely arms! I found
no conflicts.

Talan
- Excellent taste. However, the blazon needs to be changed
slightly: in SCA blazon the charges are lozenges, not fusils.

The lozenge was blazoned on the LoI as a fusil. "Fusils do
not have an independent existence as a charge"
(LoAR 1/91). The term fusil may be used when
describing a group of lozenges conjoined into an ordinary, such
as a bend or fess fusilly. [Brigid of Kincarn, 01/02,
A-Ansteorra]

(Draft
Precedents from the tenure of Franšois la Flamme s.v.
Lozenge.) Make it 'Gules, six lozenges argent'. (The
desired 3, 2, 1 arrangement should be the default.)

Malcolm
- Simple and elegant. Just the way old Malcolm likes
it. And no conflicts. Someone send this up now before
Laurel passes something similar. :-)

Roberd
- Blazon-fu: Gules, six lozenges argent

In
the Precedents of Francois: "The lozenge was blazoned on the
LoI as a fusil. "Fusils do not have an independent existence
as a charge" (LoAR 1/91). The term fusil may be used when
describing a group of lozenges conjoined into an ordinary, such
as a bend or fess fusilly. [Brigid of Kincarn, 01/02,
A-Ansteorra]"

I
found no conflicts. Nice arms. Simple, but distinctive.

Cnut
- Elvegast, Canton - April of 2001 (via Atlantia):

Gules,
a bend sinister of five lozenges conjoined argent.

CDs
orientation and arrangement of primaries.

Clear

Ohio
- In discussing the existing precedent regarding fusils as
lozenges, a logical question arose to the effect of, Given the
common terminology of the singular term fusil, why is it
justifiable only to represent the fusil as the conjoined fusilly?
If the charge were truly only intended to be used in that way,
there would be no logical reason for the singular term fusil to
exist, let alone have the commonality that it does in almost any
standard reference. Parker re-states the principle of the
existing precedent, but in rather vague and uncertain terms. Many
found the precedent to be of questionable merit.

First,
there is no need for the term fusil. In early blazon
the single charge, whatever its proportions, is always simply a losenge,
the Old French source of our lozenge. Later in
period the term fusil was occasionally used instead, but
it was used synonymously: the notion that the fusil is a tall,
narrow lozenge is post-period. Since the distinction is not
period, the SCA CoA has for many years preferred to use the
original terminology. So why do we use fusilly?
Thats a little more complicated.

In
early blazon the Old French terms engresle and endente,
from which we get engrailed and indented,
respectively, were used interchangeably. When applied to a
bend or fess they could mean either what we now mean by indented
or what we now mean by fusilly. Starting in the 13th
century the term engresle was sometimes applied to what we
would now blazon an engrailed ordinary, but engrailing was
at that time just an artistic variant of indenting; the
systematic distinction between the two, though period, came
somewhat later. At some point before the end of our period,
in fact, all three treatments of an ordinary  indented,
engrailed, and fusilly  had come to be considered distinct,
so we need to be able to distinguish them in blazon. In
this case early usage doesnt help us, since it didnt
distinguish them. Our solution is to use terminology from
later in our period.

It
may help to realize that fusilly should be thought of not
as made up of fusils, but rather as shaped like
a bunch of fusils: fusil is a variant of Old French fusel
a spindle, and of course a spindle wound with thread
does look like a long, skinny lozenge.
Potential conflict Sable, semy of lozenges argent Genevieve de
Lironcourt. 11/02 Ansteorra. According to the Pic-dic, >
6 makes a semy, but the group is doubtful over the clear
difference between 6 and 7 items. A relevent precedent was found,
[Quarterly sable and gules, all semy of fraises Or]

Conflict
with ... Azure, six roses, two, two and two, Or. There is
not a CD for number of primary charges, nor is there one for
arrangement. [Colin Tyndall de ffrayser, 09/00,
R-Artemisia]. Again, 6 vs semy did not a CD make

The
group felt that a CD would be justifiable for 5 or fewer vs semy,
as the difference would be easily assimilated even at a distance,
but not for 6 or more vs. semy. Nice design, but appears to
conflict with Genevieve as above, with only 1 CD for field
tincture.

M&A
- Francois sez: "The lozenge was blazoned on the LoI as a
fusil. "Fusils do not have an

independent
existence as a charge" (LoAR 1/91). The term fusil may be
used when describing a group of lozenges conjoined into an
ordinary, such as a bend or fess fusilly. [Brigid of Kincarn,
01/02, A-Ansteorra]"

As
such, the charges should be blazoned as "lozenges".

device
is passed to laurel. the device does not conflict with
colin due to the simplicity rule.

Talan
- The chief is invected, not engrailed. (And parting 'per
bed' is bunk and ought to be cot during proofreading!
<g>)

Malcolm
- Per bed? I think someone stayed up to late to type these,
eh? I think I know what we mean, though. Looks clear
on conflicts. Hmmm. I like the style. Is this
typo - or rather, these typos come to look at it
closer - part of the submission, or an overworked escutcheon?

Roberd
- No conflicts that I could find.

Ohio
- Declared, by general consensus, fugly . Chief should be
described as invected, not engrailed. Probably a redraw is in
order

changing
engrailed to invected and passing to laurel, but with the
typos corrected.

Client wrote a letter of explaining that
she missed the deadline for appeal because she was hospitalized.
She wanted a tressure and not a border. She's enclosed the fee
and wants to try again. This is the same blazon as before.

According to the Nov '02 ILOAR: "The
device is being returned for redrawing. The tressure
is not identifiable as such and looks more like a mini bordure,
which doesnt really exist. If the client wishes to submit a
tressure, this needs to be correctly depicted on the emblazon. If
she wishes to have a bordure, then this should be fed."

Ary-
This is not registerable, as we do not register single
diminutives and this is too narrow to be an orle. From the
precedents of Alisoun: "We do not use single diminutives and
so this

[single
tressure] has to be an orle. (LoAR Jun 88, p. 20)"

The previous return was in error when it
stated that a single tressure would be acceptable. This
must be returned and redrawn as an orle, a bordure, or a double
tressure.

Talan
- Out of curiosity, does she know that she has a man's name?

The
arms are likely to be returned on the basis of an old policy of
not registering single diminutives, but there is in fact a later
precedent that arguably allows the single tressure (emphasis
added to the relevant part):

[Per
fess purpure and vert, a <charge> within a bordure argent
charged with a tressure per fess purpure and vert, originally
blazoned as an orle and a bordure] The submission caused us a few
minutes of heartburn. The equal width of the outer three stripes,
and the fact that the central stripe is of the field, gave this
the appearance of a bordure voided, not of an orle within a
bordure.

Bordures
voided and fimbriated have been disallowed since Aug 83.
Playing with the widths a bit, to make this a bordure cotised,
would be equally unacceptable. On the other hand, A BORDURE
CHARGED WITH A TRESSURE IS A PERFECTLY LEGAL DESIGN. In the end,
we decided that the latter blazon is the most accurate and
reproducible description of the submitted emblazon --- and since
it appears to be legal, we've accepted it. It also guarantees the
device to be clear of [Azure, a within a double tressure argent].
(Lisette de Ville, August, 1993, pg. 10)

(Precedents
from the tenure of Bruce Draconarius of Mistholme s.v. Orle
and Tressure.)

It
is not clear that putting the charge on a bordure should make any
difference to its acceptability. There are other reasons to
argue for the acceptability of the design, starting with the
history of the orle and tressure.

Brault
(Early Blazon s.v. orle1) quotes H.S.
London: 'I have not found the word orle used either for a voided
scocheon or for a broad tressure before the middle or latter half
of the sixteenth century, e.g., in Gerard Legh's Accedence of
Armorie, 1564, fo. 68'. Before that the term meant
'bordure' except in such phrases as orle de merloz 'orle
of martlets', which describe charges placed as if on a
bordure. He also notes that according to Sir Anthony
Wagner, Historic Heraldry, p. 111, the word orle
assumed its modern English meaning only in the 16th century; the
significant point, however, is that he gives this meaning as
'voided escutcheon'. S.v. faus escu he establishes
that this term, literally 'false escutcheon', refers to the orle,
mentioning inter alia that Matthew Paris used the Latin
equivalent in his blazon of the orle in the Balliol arms: Scutum
d'azuro, falsum scutum d'or, cruces d'or (i.e., Azure
crusily and an orle or). In short, the orle began as a
bordure and then became in effect the bordure of an inescutcheon.

S.v.
trešoir he shows that the tressure had a very different
origin: in all likelihood it was originally a stylized
hair-ribbon. Thus, it would appear that at least through
the SCA period the tressure was not thought of as a diminutive of
(what we now call) the orle. He also notes an early example
of the single tressure in the arms of the Rumigny family; if I
read the Old French correctly, they are Or, on a saltire gules
surmounting a tressure vert five escallops argent.

Dictionary
of British Arms (I:249) has the following coats:

Argent, a lion rampant within a tressure sable (quartered
by Wemyss);

Or, a lion rampant within a tressure gules (Wemys, of
Reras);

A lion rampant within a tressure flory on the outer edge
(David Renton, of Bille, a seal, 1464);

On
p. 252 it has a seal, perhaps from 1378, of A Paschal lamb
within a tressure flory counterflory. From p. 273:

Two lions passant within a tressure (1340 seal of William
of Felton), and

Gules, two lions passant within a tressure argent and a label
azure (Monsire William de Felton).

Parker
s.v. Tressure notes the arms of John Bridges, Bishop of
Oxford, 1618 (sans tinctures, since they're from a brass): the
arms of the episcopal see impaling three owls within a
tressure flory counterflory; the date is simply the date of
the man's death.

In
short, it would be entirely possible to fight for this
coat. Since, CoA conventions aside, there's really nothing
wrong with it, I'd be inclined to make the case, since the lady
is unlikely to be in a position to make it herself.

Malcolm
- I thought tressures weren't possible, that it had to be a
double tressure because they regarded them as diminutives of an
orle? Has this changed? If so, I don't find anything
in the precedents. Other than that, this is a good 'un as
far as I can see.

As
for the name, I like it, it's very Norse! :-)

Roberd
- > Ommadonn an Luch

>
The following device associated with this name was registered in
April

>
of 2002 (via the East): Argent, semy of shamrocks vert, a mouse

>
rampant sable maintaining an Irish harp Or stringed vert.

One
CD for removal of the strewn charges, another for the addition of
the tressure, so there's no conflict.

>
Samantha MacChluarain

>
Either the name or the following device associated it (or both)
were

>
registered in January of 1973: Or, annuletty, a mouse rampant
sable.

One
CD for change of tincture of the field, one for the removal of
the strewn charges, and one for the addition of the tressure.
Clear.

Cnut
- This has to be blazoned as an orle since we don't register
single diminutives of ordinaries. This is purely a blazon
issue. In SCA practice, on a single device the singular is
orle while the plural is tressures. This is just like one
fess and two bars.

The
orle is a bit thin.

Talan
makes a good argument for applying RfS VIII.6.b. Since it
is also an element of the design, this will require documenting
that rat rampant exists in English heraldry under the standards
of RfS VII.1, not RfS VII.4.

Rat,
(fr. rat): This rodent occurs only in one or two coats of arms.
Paly of six or and gules, on a rat salient sable--TRAT, Cornwall.
Argent, a fesse gules in chief a rat of the last--BELLET. Ermine,
a fesse engrailed between three rats(? weasels) passant
gules--John ISLIP, Abbot of Westminster. Parker

I
would argue that the TRAT arms adequately establish that a rat
rampant exists, which meets the requirements of RfS
VIII.6.b. The only other requirement for the documented
regional execption to be argued is the client's specific request.

Clear

Ohio
- The rat would seem an entirely period and appropriate charge
and is mentioned in several standard texts as uncommon, but
hardly unheard of or inappropriate. The singular tressure
is against SCA usage being the diminutive of an orle.
Should be redesigned as a proper orle or as a bordure.

based
on the commentary provided by master talan i am sending this on
to laurel with his commentary. wreath can make the decision
of allowing for the tressure or changing it to an orle.

7) Jaret of Coventry (M) -- New Name
and [Device -- Per chevron inverted sable and vert, in chief a
pheon inverted Or.]
(Cleftlands)

Watts,
The Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names s.n. Coventry,
says that the spelling Coventry appears as early as 1249,
though it seems fairly clear that this was not the usual spelling
in the 13th and 14th centuries.

If
Jar(r)et and the like is indeed as late a
development as it appears to be, the prepositional byname is very
unlikely: such bynames are extremely rare after about 1400.

The
name would be fine as Jaret Coventry, however.

Malcolm
- Name checks out, good locative byname. No conflicts found
there.

Device Commentary

Ary
- This is clear of Egill Svenssoni (reg. 01/1995 via the West),
"Per pall inverted sable, gules and Or, in dexter
chief a broadarrow inverted Or." There is one CD
for the field, and since the placement of the arrowhead in both
Jaret and Egill's devices is not forced, there is another CD for
placement. It is likewise clear of Kirk of Wendarrow (reg.
07/1971), "Vert, a pheon inverted Or," with one CD for
the field, and one for the placement of the pheon.

Malcolm
- Armory is very simple and elegant again, though I wonder if it
will conflict with "Per pall inverted sable, gules and Or,
in dexter chief a broadarrow inverted Or." (Egil Svenssoni,
'95 West Kingdom)

Roberd
- The following device associated with this name was
registered in October of 1991 (via Calontir): Per bend sinister
vert and gules, two broadarrows inverted Or.

One
CD for changes to the field, one for change of number of the
charges, one for the unforced move to chief. Clear.

M&A
- Device: This is clear of Egill Svensson (reg 1/95)
"Per pall inverted sable, gules and Or, in dexter chief a
broadarrow inverted Or" and Kirk of Wendarrow (reg
7/71) "Vert, a pheon inverted Or." In both cases,
there is one CD for the field, and a second for the non-forced
move to chief.

name
change to jaret coventry and passed to laurel

device
 will be pended until client is contacted to see if they
want a pheon or a broadarrow. if they truly want a pheon it
will be returned for redraw since as drawn that is surely a
broadarrow instead of a pheon..

8)
Kashiwadebe no Hikojir§ Kih§ (M)-- New Name
(Barony of the Cleftlands)

Derived from "Name Constructions in
Medieval Japan" by Solveig Throndorttir. p. 37 Kashiwadebe
"Oak Leaf Gatherers" used as a surname.

The
compound is not actually found on p. 198, but the analogous Hikosaburou
1572 is. Saburou is 'third son', and Jirou is
'second son' (pp. 209-210). (I'm using Solveig's
transliteration here; her ou is the submitter's §,
which in turn is a non-standard ASCII substitute for o-macron.)

>
Kih§ -- is the imina, chosen when the clients persona
becomes a traveling poet.

This
appears to be problematic. Solveig discuss imina on
pp. 51-52, describing them as 'posthumous names adopted during
life' by Buddhist monks. They are composed of two kanji,
each with its Chinese reading, and most monks bore only the
single imina and no other name. A few bore a
secondary name called an azana. Thus, it is not
clear that an imina can be combined with a surname and yobina.

There
are several kanji each for the Chinese readings KI and HOU.
At least one pair even makes an apparently reasonable compound,
one meaning 'lucky/fortunate treasure' (pp. 230, 270).
Whether this is a reasonable imina, however, I can't
say. I'd go ahead and send it up in hopes that someone
knows more; at worst it's probably acceptable with loss of Kihou.

Ary
- On the mini colored emblazon, the flames look like "Or
fimbriated gules". Is that true of the large
emblazons? If so, then this must be returned:

"Flames
are too complex in shape to be fimbriated. Flames proper are
drawn correctly using alternating tongues of Or and gules flame,
rather than gules fimbriated Or (which, in earlier days of SCA
heraldry, had been considered a correct form of proper flames).
See the Cover Letter for the April 1995 LoAR for more discussion
on proper flames. [Giovanna da Ferrara, 12/01, R-Meridies]"

Talan
- The emblazon is right on the border between in pale a
compass star and a phoenix and a phoenix and in chief a
compass star.

Malcolm
- I don't find any conflicts, though this device isn't to my
taste. The artwork looks lifted from the Pic-Dic, which
isn't a problem, but the flames look weird. As with number
2 above, I have some concern that Laurel will bounce it because
they don't like the emblazon.

Roberd
- I found no conflicts.

Cnut
- There is a weirdness for using the non-period SCA compatible
compass star. The coloring of the flames might be a
problem. Proper flames have alternating tongues of Or and
gules. This looks very close to the illegal fimbriated flames
motif.

Aldith
of Memmesfed - September of 1989 (via Caid):

Argent,
in pale a mullet of four points azure and a stag's head affronty
couped proper, attired sable, within a bordure azure.

CDs
type and tincture of half of primary group.

Cßemgen
mac Daill - February of 1992 (via the East):

Argent,
in fess an arrow inverted azure and a tabby cat sejant gules,
tail entwined about the arrow, all within a bordure azure.

CDs
type and arrangement of primary group.

Clear

Between
the odd tinturing of the flames and the weirdness for the compass
star, there is a good chance that this will be returned for a
redraw.

Ohio
- The compass star is compatible with the description and
illustration in the Pic-dic. There was some debate over whether
the tincture of the flames on the emblazon was correct or not. No
conflict was found, though we eventually gave up searching
phoenixes.

passed
to laurel. the flames look fine on the large drawing and
are colored correctly for the type of field they are on.

[10) Laszlo Savino -- New Name and
Device -- Or, a chevron between two towers and two axes in
saltire purpure]
(Sternfield)

This
is Paul Wickenden's article on 'Locative Bynames in Medieval
Russian'. It does not date Savino to 1596; rather,
it says that Savino is the name of the city, town,
village, or district from which the locative byname Savinskii
is derived, and it dates this byname to 1595 (not 1596).
(Of course this does mean that there must have been a place named
Savino at that time.)

>
Client cares most about the names of Laszlo and Savino.

>
Changes to name structure to match culture (16th
Hungarian) are acceptable.

I'm
not sure why he thinks that an unmodified Russian place-name is
likely to make a reasonable 16th c. Hungarian byname.
Here's the most relevant part of what Walraven says about
Hungarian locative bynames in his 'Hungarian Names 101' at

The second major class of byname is the locative, and is formed
from a person's place of birth, place of origin, or place of
residence. Nearly all bynames of this type are formed by adding
the suffix -i to the name of a village, province, or other
geographic location.

A
bit of searching on the web finds a Savino in Russia over in the
vicinity of Nizhni Novgorod, some 200 miles or so east and a
little north of Moscow; this is a long way from
Hungary. Another, not quite so far east, is still northeast
of Moscow. There may of course be others as well.
None the less, this isn't very promising, to say the least.
I'd return the name on the grounds that it doesn't appear to
follow Hungarian practice. (Or Russian: Paul does not
mention unmodified place-names as a Russian type of locative
byname.)

Ohio
- Corrected name link should be, ....1336/magyar16.html . Arms
rather clichÚ and TSCA, but workable.

Device
Commentary

Ary
- I found no conflicts with the device.

Malcolm
- I find neither conflict nor rule to cause them to be returned.
The blazon, somehow, seems clumsy to me, though I can find no
better way to blazon it myself; it just doesn't "Roll
trippingly off the tongue" if you know what I'm saying.

Roberd
- Amazingly, to my mind, I found no conflicts, though I found
several close. Perhaps the closest was:

>
Isabeau de Bordeaux > Registerd in the East, 12/89

>
Or, a chevron azure, masoned Or, between three roses azure.

One
CD for the change of type of the secondary charges (X.4.e), and
one for the removal of the masoning. Clear.

M&A
- This is clear of Aoibeann of Arran (reg 5/85) "Or, a
chevron cotised purpure between three thistles
proper." There is one CD for changing type of
secondaries, and a second for removing the cotising.

Name
returned for non-Hungarian naming practices.

Device
returned with name.

11) Rachel l'Abat-jour (F)-- New
Name
(Auren Ripae)

Rachel is the client's legal first name
and would like to use it.

l'Abat-jour - French for 'the blind"

Client
wants a french name meaning "Rachel the Blind."

Talan
- Oh, dear; this is what can happen when one doesn't know quite
how to use a bilingual dictionary. An abat-jour is
'a lamp-shade, a candle-shade; an eye-shade; a sun-blind, an
awning; a slanting shutter'; quite apart from the fact that it
has altogether the wrong meaning, it only dates from 1670 (Petit
Robert s.v. abat-jour). The normal French adjective
meaning 'blind, without sight' is aveugle; it is also a
noun, 'blind person'. It's from Old French avogle,
which is found as early as the 11th century and also appears as avoele
and avuele (Greimas s.v. avogle). In his
expository work on French naming, Dauzat comments that the word,
though it was the ordinary word for 'blind', does not seem to
have given rise to a hereditary surname, probably because the
condition was too personal and individual. His explanation
of why it didn't become fixed as a hereditary surname suggests
that he knew or thought it likely that the term was nevertheless
used as a descriptive byname.

This
seems very likely. We know that the byname or its Latin
equivalent cecus (Classical caecus) appears in
medieval records from many parts of Europe. Reaney &
Wilson s.n. Blind cite Edricus Cecus from Domesday
Book and and Ralph le Blinde 1274, among others.
Brechenmacher s.n. Blind cites Ludolfus Cecus 1135
and Detmar Cecus 1302. Perhaps even better, from some
unknown date between 1592 and 1672 he cites the French example of
Jean Lejeune, appelÚ communÚment l'Aveugle 'Jean
Lejeune, commonly called l'Aveugle (the Blind)'. From the
Iberian peninsula Dieter Kremer cites Johannes Cecus 1195
and others (Bemerkungen zu den mittelalterlichen hispanischen
cognomina (IV), Aufsńtze zur Portugiesischen Kulturgeschichte,
First Series, Vol. 13, 1974/1975, Sonderdruck aus Portugiesische
Forschungen der G÷rresgesellschaft, ed. Hans Flasche,
Aschendorffsche Verlagsbuchhandlung, MŘnster, Westfalen; Section
54). E.H. Lind (Norsk-Islńndska Personbinamn frňn
Medeltiden, Uppsala, 1920-21) s.v. blindi has many
examples of the Old Norse byname (hinn) blindi
'(the) blind'. Under the circumstances it would be
astonishing if the medieval French never used a byname meaning
'(the) blind', and it appears that the natural choice was Old
French avogle, later to become aveugle. The
change in pronunciation of the vowel occurred during the 12th
century; modern eu was one of several spellings used to
represent the new sound (M.K. Pope, From Latin to Modern
French, rev. ed., Manchester Univ. Press, 1952, Sections 550,
714). Thus, the spelling aveugle should be at least one of
several possibilities as early as the 13th century.

She
barely needs the modern name allowance for Rachel, if at
all: Seror s.n. Rachel notes that it occurs as the name of
a Jew at Nottingham in 1244 -- possibly relevant, if the record
was Anglo-Norman -- and as Racheel at Salon-de-Provence,
France, in 1406. Other forms found in France are Rael
1495, Rahel 1482, Raela 1393, and the diminutive Raheleta
1425. All of these citations are from the south, in
Occitan-speaking regions, so an Occitan form of the byname would
be preferable; unfortunately, I have no idea what that would
be. And it is a bit of a problem, because in most of the
Occitan-speaking region French did not replace Occitan even as
the language of government and administration until at least 1500
(R. Anthony Lodge, French from Dialect to Standard,
Routledge, 1993, p. 124). Still, a Rachel l'Aveugle
(or very early Rachel l'Avogle) might be justifiable on
its merits and ought to be fine with the modern name allowance.

On
the other hand, the change from l'Abat-jour to l'Aveugle
is probably large enough to justify returning the name. In
that case it would be a kindness to warn her that we have no
documentation for a French byname meaning 'the blind', and that
while we think it perfectly reasonable, there is a chance that
Laurel/Pelican would return the byname. (This may seem
unduly pessimistic, but during the present tenure I've seen a
couple of decisions that I thought showed a similar unwillingness
to make straightforward generalizations from the evidence.
I'd rather be over-cautious than raise false hopes. And so
far as I can tell, the byname l'Aveugle has never been
registered.)

Ohio
- Someone had seen prior commentary that the translation of blind
was of the noun rather than the adjective, implying that she was
a window dressing rather than visually impaired. Others opined
that perhaps that was the intent. No one's high school French was
adequate to make serious commentary. Name construction seems
reasonable whether Rachel is made a weirdness or an English name
matched to a French name.

Name
will be passed to laurel as Rachel l'Aveugle and we shall see
what happens.

Ary
- A little odd, style-wise, but I don't see why this wouldn't be
acceptable. I found no conflicts.

Talan
- A fairly similar period example: the Dictionary of British Arms
(I:253) has the arms of Lucas as Argent, a lion azure and
another gules combatant coward.

Malcolm
- Hmmm. I don't like it. It seems unbalanced.
It's legal as church on Sunday, though.

Roberd
- I found no conflicts.

Cnut
- I did have a twitch on seeing this submission.

Gondor.
Sable, a tree blossoming argent.

The
commentary on this and the other proposals from Tolkien was
somewhat mixed. However popular the Lord of the Rings trilogy is
among older members of the SCA, it appears to have lost much of
its status over the intervening years. Here, the commentary
generally favored not protecting these arms. Precedents - Da'ud
2.2 - Appendix B

This
armory could be considered a reference to Telperion and Laurelin.

Clear

Ohio
- Several comments were made to Tolkienism, and no one was
adequately motivated to find the current precedent on Tolkien
heraldry.The precedents are really hard to work with unless you
know who issued it. They should create a search engine for the
combined precedents to make it more accessible to commentors and
consultants. Potential conflict found with Sable, a rosebush
eradicated Or Arianwen ferch Edenewen,10/98 Drachenwald. 1 CD for
the second charge.